David Camden de Leon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Camden_de_Leon

David Camden de Leon (May 6, 1816 – September 2, 1872), known as "the fighting doctor", was born in Camden, South Carolina, of Sephardic Jewish parents, Mordecai Hendricks de Leon, a physician and three-term mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, and Rebecca Lopez de Leon. Edwin de Leon and Thomas Cooper de Leon were his brothers. He received the M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (where his parents had lived before moving to South Carolina) in 1836. He entered the Army in 1838 as Assistant Surgeon and "served with distinction in the Seminole war".

At the beginning of the Mexican War, he went with General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande, was present at most of the battles in the campaign toward Mexico, and entered that city when it surrendered. At the battle of Chapultepec he earned the sobriquet of "the Fighting Doctor," as on two occasions led a charge of cavalry after the officer commanding had been killed or wounded. For his distinguished services and for his gallantry in action he twice received the thanks of Congress. He was then assigned to frontier duty, and in 1856 he became surgeon, with the rank of major.

Like most Southern officers in the regular Army, he resigned his commission at the outbreak of the Civil War, forfeiting his opportunity to become U.S. surgeon-general. He was appointed by Jefferson Davis as the head of the Confederacy's medical department, and shortly thereafter acting surgeon-general of the Confederacy. At the close of the war he went with some other Confederate soldiers to Mexico, "vowing never to return to the conquered South until she was free". He soon returned "in disgust" to New Mexico, where he had been stationed for several years, and where he owned property. He continued in practice there until his death. He died in the Hermanas Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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On May 6, 1816, David Camden De Leon was born in Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina, known as "the Fighting Doctor", was appointed by Confederate President Jefferson Davis as the first surgeon general of the Confederate Army.

DeLeon acquired the nickname of the "Fighting Doctor" because of his exploits in the Mexican War in 1845. When the hostilities erupted between Mexico and the United States, DeLeon served as a doctor under General Zachary Taylor.

In a bitter and furious battle with Mexico's General Santa Anna's troops at Chapultepec, all of the American officers were either killed or wounded. He kept the American troops from panicking and fleeing by taking command. Dr. DeLeon, without any military training, turned defeat into victory by rallying his soldiers and leading them into a successful counter-attack. His actions in this battle earned him the nickname of the "Fighting Doctor." He was twice cited for his gallantry, including a Congressional Citation.

When the Civil War ended, De Leon was an unhappy and frustrated man, and went to Mexico. At the personal invitation of his former colleague in the Mexican War, Gen Ulysses S. Grant, De Leon returned to the United States and settled in New Mexico, where he owned property. De Leon practiced medicine and planted crops. DeLeon died in 1872. He will always be remembered as the "Fighting Doctor."